Method and apparatus for handling coils of metal strip



Sept. 29, 1964 J. w. O'BRIEN 3,150,706

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COILS OF METAL STRIP Filed April 20,1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 2' Fl l O INVENTOR. T0240): BY

Sept. 29, 1964 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COILS 0F METAL STRIPFiled April 20 1962 J. W. O'BRIEN 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 in m (\l 9' N L1. l0

r IO IIlVENTOR. 0%

Sept. 29, 1964 J. w. O'BRIEN 3,150,706

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING cons OF METAL STRIP Filed April 20,1962 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 IN VEN TOR.

United States Patent 3,150,705 METHGD AND APPARATUS FER HANDLING QUlLSGil METAL STREP Jeremiah W. Oilrien, Pittsburgh, Pa, assiguor to UnitedEngineering and Foundry Qompany, Pittsburgh, Pa, a

corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Apr. Zil, 1962, Ser. No. 189,011 7Claims. ((31. 153-2) This invention relates to a method and apparatusfor use in conjunction with strip processing lines and, moreparticularly, to a method and apparatus that will enable the leadingends of coils to be quickly prepared for successive feeding of the coilsinto the line.

in connection with continuous pickling lines, for example, as employedin conjunction with the manufacture of steel strip, it is necessary, forvarious reasons well known to the industry, to remove portions of theleading ends of the coils prior to the uncoiling thereof. Since suchportions may extend a distance of 40 feet or even more in someinstances, there has existed heretofore a serious problem of quickly andefficiently removing these portions. In view of the fact that strip mustbe continuously fed into the line, it is obviously imperative that anydelay incident to the preparation of the coils for uncoiling must bekept at a very minimum.

Since there is only a very limited amount of time available to performall of the essential operations prior to the uncoiling of the strip intothe line, such as, the positioning of the coils and theshearing-welding-trimming opera tion, it is a decisive advantage to beable to remove the aforesaid leading end portions in a manner that willafford as much time as possible to perform these essential operations.

The present invention is addressed to a method and apparatus which willpermit the undesirable leading end portions of coils to 'be severed in amanner that the coils can be madeready for uncoiling with very littledelay.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide inconjunction with the usual entry end equipment of a processing line, anauxiliary strip uncoiling and shearing arrangement for uncoiling andshearing the leading ends of coils, after which the coils can beimmediately transferred to the processing line and the sheared leadingend portions cut up into shorter lengths at the convenience of theoperator and while the coils are being further prepared for feeding intothe line.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means forcontinuously running the shear as well as means for intermittentlyfeeding the strip to the shear where the strip will be cut up intoshorter lengths.

it is also a further object of this invention to provide, in conjunctionwith the entry end equipment of a processing line, an auxiliaryuncoiling and shearing arrangement consisting of a pair of coilsupporting driven rollers designed to uncoil and then recoil a portionof the leading end of coil supported thereby, a pair of pinch rolls, anadjacent leveler unit, a shear and a second pinch roll unit spaced fromthe leveler and followed by a runout table. In this arrangement theundesirable portion of the leading end of a coil is unwound from thecoil and passed through the first pair of pinch rolls and the leveler,through the shear and onto the runout table, after which the shear isoperated to shear the undesirable material from the coil. Followingthis, the coil can be rewound by the supporting rollers and immediatelytransferred to the processing line for uncoiling and processingtherethrough. At the same time the sheared leading end portion can bereturned through the shear and cut up into a number of shorter lengthsat a time when such an operation will not delay the coil uncoilingoperation.

These objects, as well as the other novel features and advantages ofthis invention, will be more fully described hereinafter in whichconnection reference will be made to the following drawings of which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the entry end equipment of a continuousmetallic strip pickling line;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken on lines IIII of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on lines Ill-III of FIGURE 1 of theauxiliary uncoiling and shearing arrangement herein disclosed.

With reference to FIGURES 1 and 2 there is illustrated a coil conveyor16 consisting of a pair of parallel chains 11 designed to beintermittently driven by a drive not shown and having coil supportingmembers on which coils are placed with their axis extending in avertical direction and their convolutions Wound in a clockwisedirection. At the discharge end of the conveyor, there is provided anupender 12 having three coil engaging fingers 13, 14 and 15 which aredesigned to pass between the parallel coil-supponting chains of theconveyor 10 to a position immediately below the upper surfaces of coilsupporting members thereof.

The upender 12 is rigidly secured to a rotatable shaft 16 which, inturn, is connected to and rotated by a piston cylinder assembly 17FIGURE 1 illustrates the upender in its coil receiving position. Withreference to FIG- URE 2, it will be observed that the upender 12 isdesigned to rotate a coil, supported by the fingers, degrees and lift itoff of the conveyor 10. A pair of spaced apart adjustable rollers 18 areprovided for engaging the one side of the coil and supporting its weightwhen the upender is rotated. As shown in FIGURE 1 the rollers 18 areindividually connected to piston cylinder assemblies 19 and 22 by meansof a pair of arms 23 and 24.

A first coil transfer car 27 is provided for receiving the coils fromthe upender 12 and, as shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, consists of a frame28 having a vertically movable column 29 which includes at its upper enda platen 31 and at its lower end a piston cylinder assembly 32 to whichthe platen is connected and by which means it is raised and lowered. Tothe frame 28 of the transfer car 27 there is provided two pairs oftransversely spaced apart freely rotatable wheels 33 which roll over andare supported by a pair of parallelly arranged tracks 34. As seen onFIGURE 2, the tracks 34 extend from a position adjacent to the upender12 to a position adjacent to an uncoiler 35. With reference to FIGURE 1,it will be noted that the width of the platen 31 of the car 27 is narrowenough to allow it to be advanced between the rollers 18 of the upender12 when the rollers 18 are in their horizontal positions.

Spaced to the left of the upender 12 as one views FIG- URES 1, 2 and 3,there is provided a pair of cradle rolls 36 and 37 arranged to extend inthe same direction as the tracks 34. The rolls are spaced apart asufiicient distance to allow the platen 31 of the first transfer car 27to be advanced between them and deposit a coil carried thereby upon therolls 36 and 37, the platen being first raised by the operation of thecylinder 32, this relationship being best shown in FIGURE 3. The rolls36 and 37 are motor driven by individual motors 38, as best shown inFIGURES 1 and 3. The driving of the rolls 36 and 37 when at the timethey are supporting a coil will effect a winding or unwinding of thecoil depending on the direction of rotation of the rolls. Hereinafter,on occasion, the cradle rolls will be referred to as a first uncoiler.

As best illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 3, adjacent to the roll 37, thereis provided a strip peeling mechanism 41 consisting of a freelyrotatable roller 42 and a knife and 37, as illustrated in FIGURES 1 and2, there is provided a second coil transfer car 48 which is designed totransfer a coil from the cradle rolls to the uncoiler 35. This secondtransfer car is made up of a frame 49 having a central verticallyextending opening into which there is received a vertically movablecolumn 52, the column at its upper end being provided with a pair ofcoil supporting rollers 53 and at its lower end with a piston cylinderassembly 54 which serves to raise and lower the column 52. The column isfurther provided with a tubular bushing 55 which is keyed to the columnand received in a second frame 56. To the bushing there is secured abracket 57 to which, in turn, there is secured a piston cylinderassembly 58 designed to rotate the column 52 90 degrees so that thecoils may be presented to the uncoiler 35 with their leading endsextending in a counterclockwise direction and in the direction of theprocessing line. These elements are best shown in FIG- URE 2.

The second coil car 48 is provided with a pair of transversely spacedapart freely rotatable wheels 62 which roll over the tracks 34. As shownin FIGURE 2, the second coil car 48 is connected at its one end to thefirst coil car 27 by a clevis-pin arrangement 63 and at its other end tothe rod of a piston cylinder assembly 64, the latter being the meansprovided for moving the two cars over the tracks 34. The uncoiler 35,which hereinafter, on occasion, will be referred to as a seconduncoiler, is representative of a well-known commercial unit, and is notbelieved to require any specific description in order to understand thepresent invention.

With reference now to the auxiliary coil preparing arrangement hereindisclosed, attention is directed particularly to FIGURES 1 and 3, thearrangement being best illustrated in the latter figure. With referenceto FIGURE 1, it Will be noted that perpendicular to the line of travelof the coil transfer cars 27 and 4-3 and parallel to the conveyor 10,there is arranged an auxiliary strip uncoiling and shearing linedesigned to remove the undesirable leading end portions of the coils andpermit the coils to be advanced to the second uncoiler 35 with a minimumloss of time.

It will be observed in FIGURE 3 that adjacent to the cradle rolls 36 and57 which constitute the first uncoiler, and at right angles to thedirection of travel of the first and second transfer cars 27 and 48,there is provided a pinch roll unit consisting of a pair of motor drivenpinch rolls 65, the upper one of which is connected to and verticallyadjusted by a piston cylinder assembly 66. Adjacent to and on the farside of the pinch rolls 65, there is arranged a strip leveler 67 of awell known type. Following the leveler, there is provided a table 68consisting of a series of freely rotating rollers 69. The table ispivotally mounted at its leveler end and adapted to he raised by apiston cylinder assembly 71 connected to its underside at the levelerend of the table. At the free end of the table 68 there is provided ashear 72 having a drive 73, the drive, shown only in FIGURE 1, isadapted to operate the shear either continuously or intermittently. Atthe exit side of the shear there is provided a second pinch roll unitconsisting of a pair of rolls 7%, the upper one of which is connected toand vertically adjustable by a piston cylinder assembly 74-. The rolls7% of this pinch roll unit are designed to be intermittently driven by adrive 75, shown only in FIG- URE l.

As previously mentioned, it is a feature of this invention to providemeans for continuously driving the shear 72 thereby reducingconsiderably the torque requirements over a start-stop type of shear.According to the present invention the much lighter pinch rolls 7%) areeither driven intermittently or in their place there may be providedmeans for feeding the strip in an intermittent fashion. This improvementnot only results in a very economical arrangement since it requires aminimum amount of horsepower, but also reduces heat and wear of partsnormally resulting from a number of successive intermittent operations.

To the exit side of the second pinch roll assembly 70 there is arrangeda runout table 76, consisting of a series of freely rotatable rolls 77,the length of the table being made sufficient to handle the maximumexpected length of the undesirable leading end portions desired to betrimmed from the coils. As indicated previously, this length may reach alength of 40 feet or more. In conjunction with the shear 72 there isprovided an individual chute 78 designed to direct the sheared-uplengths from the shear into a disposal car 79.

The operation of the present invention may be briefly explained asfollows:

A coil placed on the conveyor 10 and brought to a position over thefingers 13, 14 and 15 of the upender 12 is rotated degrees by theupender as the result of the operation of the piston cylinder assembly17. After this takes place, the first transfer car 27 is brought intoits coil receiving position by the operation of the piston cylinderassembly 64. Once this has occurred, the piston cylinder assembly 32 ofthe first transfer car and the piston cylinder assemblies 19 and 22 ofthe upender are raised and lowered respectively, thus placing the coilon the platen 31. Following this, the piston cylinder assembly 64 isagain operated so as to bring the first transfer car 27 to a positionbetween the cradle rolls 36 and 37 of the first uncoiler, the platen ofthe car 27 being elevated by the piston cylinder assembly 32 so that thecoil carried thereby will clear the rolls 36 and 37. The platen is thenlowered by a further operation of the cylinder assembly 32 to depositthe coil upon the cradle rolls 36 and 37 It will be noted in FIGURE 3that when the coil is carried by the rolls 36 and 37, its leadingportion will extend toward the pinch rolls 65. Once the coil issupported by the cradle rolls 36 and 37 the piston cylinder assembly 46of the peeler mechanism 41 is operated to bring its roller 42 in againstthe periphery of the coil which is rotating by the cradle rolls wherebythe peeler knife 43 will be engaged by the leading end of the strip andseparated from the coil. Once a sufiicient length of strip has beenpeeled from the coil, the rotation of the coil is interrupted and thepiston cylinder assembly 46 operated to bring the arm 44 into itsretracted position. This action will cause the peeled leading end to bebent over the rod 47 whereby a permanent set will be placed in thestrip.

The next step will be to rewind the coil to free its leading end fromthe peeler, after which the coil is again unwound whereby its peeledouter convolution will be urged into the pinch rolls 65, through theleveler 67, over the table 68, through the open shear 72, and thusthrough the pinch rolls 70. The leveling imparted to the strip willcause the strip to lie fiat as it is advanced over the tables 68 and 77.Once the total length of the undesirable leading end portion has passedthrough the shear 72, the rotation of the cradle rolls 36 and 37 ismomentarily interrupted and the shear 72 is operated to sever theundesirable leading end portion from the coil. After this occurs, thecradle rolls 36 and 37 will again be rotated to rewind the extendedportion of the coil.

Previous to this taking place, the piston cylinder assembly 64 will havebeen operated to bring the second transfer car 48 into a positionbetween the cradle rolls 36 and 37, the first car 27 at the same timebeing shifted to a position adjacent to the upender 12 for receiving asecond coil from the conveyor 10. Once the first coil is in readiness tobe transferred to the second uncoiler 35, the piston cylinder assembly54 is operated to bring the rollers 53 of the second transfer car 48into engagement with the bottom surface of the coil and lift it off thecradle rolls 36 and 37.

After this occurs, the piston cylinder assembly 64 is again operated toshift both of the transfer cars 27 and 48 whereby the first transfer car27 with a second coil carried thereby will be brought into a positionbetween the cradle rolls 36 and 37 of the first uncoiler and the secondtransfer car 48 will be brought into a position intermediate the cradlerolls 36 and 37 and the second uncoiler 35. It is to be pointed out thatin this phase of the operation the leading end of the first coil willproject in a direction at right angles to the travel of the strip ascoiled by the uncoiler 35 so that it is necessary to rotate this coil 90degrees. This is accomplished by operating the piston cylinder assembly58 of the second transfer car 48 which will rotate the column 52 thereofand the coil carried thereby into the proper position, as shown inFIGURE 2. Once this occurs, the cylinder 64 can again be operated tobring the coil into the uncoiler 35, the piston cylinder assembly 54 ofthe second car 48 being operated to position the axis of the first coilin the proper elevation to be received by the uncoiler 35. As to thefirst car 27, since the second coil will have been transferred to thecradle rolls 36 and 37, this car is free to move with the second car 48.

It will be appreciated that once the cradle rolls 36 and 37 of the firstuncoiler begin the operation of recoiling the coil after the firstshearing operation has taken place, the operator may commence to shearup the undesirable leading end portion. To accomplish this,

'the table 68 is raised by operation of the piston cylinder assembly 71and the shear 72 and the pinch rolls 70 operated as previously discussedwhereby the pinch rolls 70 by operating intermittently will feed apredetermined length of strip through the shear where it is sheared bythe continuous cutting shear 72, the sheared portions falling down thechute 78 and eventually into the disposal car 79. Hence, while thisshearing operation is taking place, the coil can be transferred to thesecond uncoiler 35 and this transfer operation can take place almostimmediately and without substantial delay pending cutting up of the longsheared leading end portion.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art to which thisinvention pertains that this auxiliary uncoiling and shearingarrangement as disclosed herein need not necessarily be located asillustrated in the accompanying drawings, but may be located in a numberof other positions with equal effect. For example, the auxiliaryarrangement could be located as an extension to the conveyor and thusreceive the coil immediately from the conveyor.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I haveexplained the principle and operation of my invention and haveillustrated and described what I consider to represent the bestembodiment thereof. However, I desire to have it understood that withinthe scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practicedotherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. A method of preparing coils of strip for feeding them successivelyinto a continuous processing line within which there are included afirst and a second uncoiler, a shear, a coil transfer means and a stripfeeding means, the steps comprising:

positioning a coil in said first uncoiler,

uncoiling a portion of the leading end of said coil, shearing a portionof the said uncoiled leading end,

recoiling said unsheared leading end by said first uncoiler,

transferring the coil to said second uncoiler,

and at the same time refeeding the sheared leading end portion to saidshear and cutting it up into shorter lengths.

2. Apparatus for uncoiling coils of strip for feeding them successivelyinto a continuous processing line comprising:

.a second uncoiler arranged adjacent to the processing a first uncoilerspaced from said second uncoiler,

a transfer means for transferring a coil from said first uncoiler tosaid second uncoiler from where it is fed into the line,

means causing said first uncoiler to wind and unwind a coil positionedtherein,

a shearing means associated with said first uncoiler,

means for operating said shear to sever a portion of the leading end ofa coil unwound by said first uncoiler, and

means for feeding the sheared leading end portion into the shear to bedivided into a plurality of shorter lengths during the interval the coilis being rewound by the first uncoiler and transferred to said seconduncoiler by said transfer means.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 in which said first uncoiler includesa pair of coil supporting cradle rolls,

means for driving said rolls,

a first and second strip feeding means located on either side of saidshear, said first feeding means operatively arranged to feed the leadingend of the coil to said shear and said second feeding means operativelyarranged to refeed the sheared portion of the leading end into saidshear to be divided into a plurality of shorter lengths.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein means are arranged adjacent tosaid first feeding means for levelling the uncoiled strip, and

means is provided for freeing the leading end of the strip from the coilwhen the coil is uncoiled by said first uncoiler means.

5. Apparatus according to claim 3, including means for driving saidshear continuously,

means for driving said second feeding means intermittently to cause apredetermined length of the sheared leading end to be refed into theshear to be divided thereby into a plurality of shorter lengths.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4, including a first table arrangedbetween said first feeding means and said shear, and

a second table arranged adjacent to said second feeding means on theside opposite the shear.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein at least the end of said firsttable adjacent said shear is vertically movable to permit the refedsheared leading end to pass thereunder, and

means for so moving said table.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,496,056 Johnson June 3, 1924 2,087,010 Wardle et al. July 13, 19372,188,782 Thomas Jan. 30, 1940 2,266,067 Nyberg Dec. 16, 1941 3,042,334Erskine July 3, 1962

1. A METHOD OF PREPARING COILS OF STRIP FOR FEEDING THEM SUCCESSIVELYINTO A CONTINUOUS PROCESSING LINE WITHIN WHICH THERE ARE INCLUDED AFIRST AND A SECOND UNCOILER, A SHEAR, A COIL TRANSFER MEANS AND A STRIPFEEDING MEANS, THE STEPS COMPRISING: POSITIONING A COIL IN SAID FIRSTUNCOILER, UNCOILING A PORTION OF THE LEADING END OF SAID COIL, SHEARINGA PORTION OF THE SAID UNCOILED LEADING END, RECOILING AND UNSHEAREDLEADING END BY SAID FIRST UNCOILER, TRANSFERRING THE COIL TO SAID SECONDUNCOILER, AND AT THE SAME TIME REFEEDING THE SHEARED LEADING END PORTIONTO SAID SHEAR AND CUTTING IT UP INTO SHORTER LENGTHS.
 2. APPARATUS FORUNCOILING COILS OF STRIP FOR FEEDING THEM SUCCESSIVELY INTO A CONTINUOUSPROCESSING LINE COMPRISING: A SECOND UNCOILER ARRANGED ADJACENT TO THEPROCESSING LINE, A FIRST UNCOILER SPACED FROM SAID SECOND UNCOILER, ATRANSFER MEANS FOR TRANSFERRING A COIL FROM SAID FIRST UNCOILER TO SAIDSECOND UNCOILER FROM WHERE IT IS FED INTO THE LINE, MEANS CAUSING SAIDFIRST UNCOILER TO WIND AND UNWIND A COIL POSITIONED THEREIN, A SHEARINGMEANS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID FIRST UNCOILER, MEANS FOR OPERATING SAIDSHEAR TO SEVER A PORTION OF THE LEADING END OF A COIL UNWOUND BY SAIDFIRST UNCOILER, AND MEANS FOR FEEDING THE SHEARED LEADING END PORTIONINTO THE SHEAR TO BE DIVIDED INTO A PLURALITY OF SHORTER LENGTHS DURINGTHE INTERVAL THE COIL IS BEING REWOUND BY THE FIRST UNCOILER ANDTRANSFERRED TO SAID SECOND UNCOILER BY SAID TRANSFER MEANS.